Two Welsh fire services award joint software contract

Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service (MAWWFRS) and South Wales Fire and Rescue Service (SWFRS) have jointly awarded a contract to Capita to provide software for a new ‘Command and Control’ system.

The contract for Capita’s ‘Vision’ software will recommend responses to control room staff when an emergency call is registered and automatically locates and alerts the nearest and most appropriate resources to respond.

The new system has been described as “both a cost saving and an information sharing measure”.

The ‘Command and Control’ system will also plot the locations of the incident and the caller onto a detailed map which can also include colloquial street or landmark names to aid a speedier response.

Senior responsible officer for the Joint Public Service Centre Project; MAWWFRS chief fire officer, Chris Davies said: “This new control room software also provides improved functionality and efficiency from the current systems in use, and will allow control room teams to effectively manage fire emergency calls across South Wales Fire and Rescue and Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service areas.

“The software provides integration with other systems such as our On-Call Firefighter Availability System as well as providing automated information sharing between other emergency services in the region.”

Paul Eggleton, managing director of Capita Communication and Control Solutions, said: “The work to deploy VISION will offer the authorities some new opportunities for greater co-operation between agencies which in turn will help to improve the response and service provided to the public and communities of Mid and South Wales.”